Wyoming Valley West players with the PIAA 3A District 2 Championship plaque.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Wyoming Valley West players celebrate their 4-1 victory over Wilkes-Barre Area in the PIAA 3A District 2 Championship.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Wyoming Valley West’s Miley Cunningham holds up her stick as Ava Mullery (25) and Valerie Yelen (10) congratulate her on the third score of the game in the third quarter.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Wilkes-Barre Area midfielder Grace Simko dribbles the ball as Wyoming Valley West’s Lily Watchilla tries to steal the ball away in the second quarter of the PIAA District 2 3A Championship Tuesday.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Wyoming Valley West’s Ava Mullery (center) scores in the second quarter as Wilkes-Barre Area’s Anna Vitali and goalie Jackie Ayala Muniz try to block the Spartans’ second goal of the PIAA District 2 3A Championship.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Wyoming Valley West’s Charlotte Yelen (6) passes the ball as Wilkes-Barre Area’s Gianna Gustinucci (8)gives chase in the first quarter of the PIAA District 2 3A Championship Tuesday.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
LEHMAN TWP. — It was as steady as it gets for Wyoming Valley West on Tuesday: a goal every quarter, no more and no less.
With a championship-caliber defense and a firm control of the action, that was all the Spartans needed to claim another district title.
Charlotte Yelen and Miley Cunningham had a goal and an assist apiece, and Valley West took down top-seeded Wilkes-Barre Area 4-1 to win its third straight District 2 Class 3A field hockey championship.
Ava Mullery and Chelsea Hummel added a goal apiece for the Spartans, who will play the fifth-place team from the District 1/12 subregional tournament when the state playoffs begin on Tuesday.
In winning the gold, the Spartans also gained a measure of revenge on Wilkes-Barre Area after the Wolfpack handed them a 2-0 loss in the teams’ only regular-season meeting.
“It gave us motivation knowing that we would have a good chance of facing them again,” Valley West head coach Lois Krause said. “They’re a great team, so we just practiced every day and changed our formation a little.”
The Spartans’ midfielders and defensive unit made it nearly impossible for Wilkes-Barre Area to do anything once they got past midfield, holding the Wolfpack to just one shot in the first half.
Yelen, meanwhile, got the ball rolling for Valley West with her goal, late in the first quarter. She would then provide the assist to Ava Mullery in the second quarter as Mullery made a run deep into the circle and slid one past the Wolfpack keeper.
“There was a whistle right by the 25 (yard line),” Yelen explained in reference to her goal. “I knew that if we just got a quick start and got a shot off, any shot on cage is an opportunity to score.”
Cunningham turned and fired one home early in the third quarter to extend Valley West’s lead to 3-0, and though Wilkes-Barre Area began to get the ball up field with a bit more regularity, they still couldn’t solve the Spartans’ defense.
It wasn’t until a penalty stroke midway through the fourth quarter that the Wolfpack were able to break through: Anna Vitali ripped one low that Valley West goalie Kaylah Sewell got a pad on but couldn’t keep out of the cage.
There wasn’t a moment of panic from the Spartans: just about 20 seconds later, a nifty pass from Cunningham made its way to Hummel, who buried her shot to make it a 4-1 game.
That score held up down the final few minutes until the clock hit zero and the Spartans came pouring out onto the field to celebrate.
It’s three in a row for Valley West but the first as head coach for Krause, who took over this season in place of the program’s longtime head coach Linda Fithian.
“It’s a lot of pressure, great shoes to fill,” Krause said. “But this is their (the team’s) third year winning the championship, this is for them.”
District 2 Class 3A Championship
Wyoming Valley West 4, Wilkes-Barre Area 1
Valley West`1`1`1`1 — 4
Wilkes-Barre`0`0`0`1 — 1
First — 1. WVW Charlotte Yelen 4:52. Second — 1. WVW Ava Mullery (C. Yelen) 8:22. Third — 1. WVW Miley Cunningham (Valerie Yelen) 12:05. Fourth — 1. WBA Anna Vitali 7:12; 2. WVW Chelsea Hummel (Cunningham) 6:53.
Shots — WVW 13, WBA 7. Saves — WVW 5 (Kaylah Sewell), WBA 8 (Helen McGinley Mirin, Jackie Ayala Muniz). Corners — WVW 6, WBA 4.
Local journalism matters, and your support makes it possible. You can help sustain this work by making a donation or choosing one of our subscription options. Subscribers enjoy valuable benefits, including full access to our e-edition, a reduced ad experience on timesleader.com, and more.
Your support helps ensure independent, high-quality local news remains available today and for future generations. Thank you for standing with local journalism.